BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 801
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
801 (Bloom)
As Amended June 1, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Higher |11-2 |Medina, Bloom, |Baker, Harper |
|Education | |Chávez, Irwin, | |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, | |
| | |Levine, Linder, | |
| | |Low, Santiago, | |
| | |Weber, Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Human Services |5-0 |Chu, Calderon, | |
| | |Lopez, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Mark Stone, | |
| | |Thurmond | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Appropriations |12-3 |Gomez, Bonta, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Calderon, Daly, |Wagner |
| | |Eggman, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
AB 801
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| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Enacts the Success for Homeless Youth in Higher
Education Act. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the California State University (CSU) and each
California Community College (CCC) district (CCD) and requests
the University of California (UC), with respect to each campus
in their respective jurisdictions that administers a priority
enrollment system, grant priority in said system for
registration for enrollment to a current or former homeless
youth.
2)Defines "homeless" per the same meaning as defined in Section
725 of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act;
defines "homeless youth" to mean a person who is 24 years of age
or younger and who has been determined to be homeless at any
time during the current calendar year; and, defines "former
homeless youth" to mean a person who is 24 years of age or
younger, and who, while not currently homeless, has been
determined to be homeless, at any time in the immediately
preceding six calendar years, by any of the following: a) a
homeless services provider, as defined; b) the director of a
federal TRIO program or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness
for Undergraduate Programs program, or a designee of that
director; and, c) a financial aid administrator for an
institution of higher education.
3)Requires a qualifying postsecondary educational institution, as
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defined, to do both of the following: a) designate an existing
staff member within the financial aid office, or another
appropriate office or department of the institution to serve as
the Homeless and Foster Student Liaison; and, b) inform current
and prospective students of the institution about student
financial aid and other assistance available to current and
former homeless and/or foster youth, including their eligibility
as independent students, per the federal Higher Education Act
(HEA).
4)Specifies that the designated Homeless and Foster Student
Liaison shall be responsible for understanding the provisions of
the federal HEA pertaining to financial aid eligibility of
current and former foster youth and unaccompanied current and
former homeless youth, and for identifying services available
and appropriate for enrolled students who fall under one or more
of these categories, shall assist said students in applying for
and receiving federal and state financial aid and available
services.
5)Specifies that the definitions of current and former foster
youth and/or homeless youth, as defined, apply for the entire
measure.
6)Clarifies that the UC Regents are requested to adopt policies,
as specified, to the extent that is feasible and equivalent to
the provisions of the measure, as specified.
7)Specifies that a student who currently resides in California,
and is 19 years of age or under at the time of enrollment, may
be entitled to resident classification until he/she has resided
in the state the minimum time necessary to become a resident if
he/she has been determined at any time during the two years
immediately preceding the residency classification determination
to be homeless, as defined.
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8)Requires the Community College Student Financial Aid Outreach
Program to provide financial aid training to high school and
community college counselors and advisors on the specific needs
of current and former homeless youth.
9)Authorizes the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) to
include pupils who are current and former homeless youth to
receive support under CSAC's Student Opportunity and Access
Program.
10)Authorizes the governing board of each CCC, at the time of
enrollment of a current or former foster youth, to receive the
Board of Governors (BOG) Fee Waiver.
11)Specifies that if this measure is deemed a state mandate by the
Commission on State Mandates, appropriate entities will be
reimbursed.
12)Makes clarifying and technical changes to existing law.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires, until January 1, 2017, the CSU and each CCD and
requests the UC, with respect to each campus in their respective
jurisdictions that administers a priority enrollment system, to
grant priority registration for enrollment of current or former
foster youth (Education Code (EC) Section 66025.9).
2)Establishes the Community College Student Financial Aid Outreach
Program, which, among other things, provides financial aid
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training to high school and community college counselors and
advisors who work with students planning to attend or attending
a CCC. The training addresses the specific needs of all of the
following: a) CCC students intending to transfer to a four-year
institution of higher education; b) foster youth; and, c)
students with disabilities (EC Section 69514.5).
3)Authorizes, CSAC as the administrators of the Student
Opportunity and Access Program, to apportion funds on a progress
payment schedule for the support of projects designed to
increase the accessibility of postsecondary educational
opportunities for any of the following elementary and secondary
school pupils: a) pupils who are from low-income families; b)
pupils who would be the first in their families to attend
college; and, c) pupils who are from schools or geographic
regions with documented low-eligibility or college participation
rates (EC Section 69561).
4)Waives the $46 per unit per semester from certain CCC students
if, after meeting minimum academic and progress standards
adopted by the CCC BOG, meet one of the following criteria: a)
at the time of enrollment are recipients of benefits under the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the
Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment
Program, or a general assistance program; b) demonstrates
eligibility according to income standards established by
regulations of the CCC BOG; c) demonstrates financial need in
accordance with the methodology set forth in federal law or
regulation for determining the expected family contribution of
students seeking financial aid; d) at the time of enrollment is
a dependent or surviving spouse who has not remarried, of any
member of the California National Guard who, in the line of duty
and while in the active service of the state, was killed, died
of a disability resulting from an event that occurred while in
the active service of the state, or is permanently disabled as a
result of an event that occurred while in the active service of
the state; e) any student who is the surviving spouse or the
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child, natural or adopted, of a deceased person who qualified
for the fee waiver; and, f) any student in an undergraduate
program, including a student who has previously graduated from
another undergraduate or graduate program, who is the dependent
of any individual killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or the crash
of United Airlines Flight 93 in southwestern Pennsylvania, if
that dependent meets the financial need requirements, as
specified, and either of the following applies: (i) the
dependent was a resident of California on September 11, 2001;
and, (ii) the individual killed in the attacks was a resident of
California on September 11, 2001 (EC Section 76300).
FEDERAL LAW: Defines the term "homeless children and youth" to
mean individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
residence, as specified, including, but not limited to, the
following: 1) children and youth who are sharing the housing of
other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a
similar reason; 2) are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or
camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate
accommodations; 3) are living in emergency or transitional
shelters; 4) are abandoned in hospitals; 5) are awaiting foster
care placement; 6) have a primary nighttime residence that is a
public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a
regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; and, 7) are
living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings,
substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings
(42 United States Code Section 11301, et seq.).
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, the public colleges and universities could likely meet
this measure's requirement to designate an existing staff person
as a liaison within existing resources. Any additional costs to
community colleges would be state reimbursable, however.
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COMMENTS: Background. According to the National Association for
the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY), college
homelessness is a serious issue that is often overlooked; there
exists an assumption that if someone is homeless, he/she is so
focused on basic needs like food and shelter that school is not a
concern. However, NAEHCY contends that for homeless youth,
education is the answer to providing homeless youth means to be
able to enter into the work force, earn a living, and no longer be
homeless.
To note, there is no concrete estimate for the number of homeless
college students nationwide, but 58,158 college applicants
indicated that they were homeless on federal financial aid forms
for the 2012-13 academic year (most recent data available to
date); which, according to NAEHCY, is up 8% from 53,705 in the
previous year, according to federal data. NAEHCY argues that the
number is likely understated, since some students may be staying
in a car, relatives' or fellow classmates' couches, or motels, and
do not realize they are technically homeless, or do not want to
admit to it. Additionally, California has the highest rate of
homeless youth in the nation and twice the rate of homeless
students as the national average (4% in CA vs. 2% nationally).
Purpose of this measure. According to the author, in the 2012-13
school year, in California, there were 18,000 homeless pupils in
grade 12 alone; yet only 10,208 California college students in
total indicated a status of being homeless and unaccompanied. The
author contends that the data indicates that many homeless youth
are not matriculating into higher education and/or are not
receiving the financial aid to which they are entitled. The
author states, "This bill seeks to address state barriers to
financial assistance for homeless youth." This measure will also
bring parity among current and former homeless youth to that of
current and former foster youth, who already receive some
exemptions and waivers in current law (e. g. priority enrollment
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status).
Analysis Prepared by:
Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN:
0000758